Mighty U.S.-built generator feeds frail Iraqi power grid

Many problems continue to plague nation's electrical infrastructure

NELSON HERNANDEZ, Washington Post |
May 14, 2006

KIRKUK, IRAQ - V94, known to U.S. officials as the "mother of all electricity generators," stands four stories tall and is surrounded by a silvery forest of transformers, an island of modernity amid the dust-streaked farmlands and mud-brick houses of the northern Iraqi countryside.

The Kirkuk power plant, which became fully operational a month ago, is a $178 million chunk of the more than $18 billion the United States has spent in rebuilding Iraq. It is the most powerful and sophisticated electric plant in the Middle East, according to its Iraqi plant managers and U.S. officials who gave reporters a tour of the site last week. Its two gas-fired turbines generate a combined 325 megawatts to Iraq's national power grid — enough, in theory, to give Iraqis an extra three hours of electricity each day.

But mending Iraq's power grid — one of the most important tasks of the reconstruction effort — has proved as difficult and intractable as defeating insurgents or controlling ethnic and sectarian rivalries. Hundreds of millions of dollars and massive projects — such as the construction of the Kirkuk plant, which began in January 2004 — have made hardly a dent in the problem, even as the United States begins to shift responsibility for Iraq's reconstruction to the national government.

Poor maintenance

Forced to deal with an aging, poorly maintained electricity infrastructure, ongoing insurgent attacks on gas and transmission lines, and the ever-increasing demand of Iraqis, Iraq still averages only about 13 hours of electricity a day nationwide, with only six hours on average in Baghdad, the country's largest population center, according to U.S. officials. Iraqis consider the lack of power to be among their most serious problems, especially during the summer, when temperatures can top 120 degrees.

Before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, Saddam Hussein's government routed power to Baghdad, which received 18 to 24 hours of electricity a day while the rest of the country received two to four hours. Since then, Iraq's electricity generation capacity has increased from 2,500 megawatts to about 5,000 megawatts, but attacks and breakdowns have kept another 3,500 megawatts offline.

The problems start at the oil and natural gas refineries that provide fuel for the electricity generators. Attacks on the plants or pipelines can cut off the fuel supply or reduce its quality. Then there are attacks on the generating plants themselves. Finally, insurgents have targeted transmission lines, which stretch for more than 10,000 miles.

Decline in attacks

U.S. and Iraqi forces have tried to secure the plants and their lines, and cite some success as in a decline this year in attacks on pipelines.

Maintenance problems also contribute to power shortages. Refineries and generators received little maintenance under Saddam, and much of the U.S. spending has gone toward urgently needed repairs.

Although the work has improved the overall generating capacity, the increasing demands of Iraqis have outstripped the increasing supply.

The demand for electricity is expected to hit 10,000 megawatts this summer — almost twice what the overtaxed system can provide.